Humanities Assignment 3

Accomplishments of the Ancient Egyptians

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science of embalming • irrigation • ship building • plowing, agricultural improvements in planting and harvesting food • sculpture • mathematics • life after death belief • relief carving and fresco paintings in tombs • hieroglyphic writing

The ancient Egyptian civilization developed along the Nile River between 5000 and 3000 B.C. The fl ooding of the Nile River left a rich silt that increased the fertility of the land, so the ancient people were able to plant and harvest there; ulti- mately, they developed a civilization along the vast Nile River valley. Egyptology is the study of Egyptian history and culture, including the science of mummifi cation, a method used to preserve the bodies of the dead.

Egyptian history is usually broken down by scholars into three periods: the Pyr- amid Age, Middle Kingdom, and New Kingdom. The pyramids were built in the earliest era, and the temples at Luxor and Karnak were built over many years, but the bulk of the work on them was done during the New Kingdom. The pharaoh at that time, Ramses II, became very powerful. Because of his military prowess as well as his many years of service (he would die at about ninety-two), he had his sculpture and name carved on the temples, publicly expressing his power and might. Four sculptures of Ramses II were carved on the exterior of the temple Abu Simbel, as well as in numerous rows of columns on the interior.

For nearly 3,000 years, pharaohs and queens ruled in dynasties until Egypt was fi nally conquered. Their land was isolated and protected by the natural boundaries of the desert and mountains. The yearly rainfall alone would not have allowed for the growth of grain and crops had it not been for the yearly fl ooding of the Nile River. The Nile was the lifeblood of the Egyptians, and the ability to understand the fl ooding patterns became a way of life for the ancient Egyptian farmers. They perfected the use of the plow, used a mechanism now called a nilometer to measure

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flooding, and forecast the weather. Use of the nilometer to know where to plant and understanding the distance of the flow of the Nile’s waters were two of the main ele- ments of the pharaohs’ reign over their people. Pharaohs were expected to guide and direct their people by providing for a productive harvest, and it was crucial that each pharaoh understand how far the water would recede in order to determine where to plant the grain. This, like other such issues, was calculated by the leadership of the pha- raoh and his staff, who were excellent mathematicians and scientists.

The Egyptians believed that the body had to be preserved, or embalmed, through a process called mummification. In this process, the body was dried and then placed in a coffin. After the Pyramid Age, bodies were placed in a resting area referred to as the “Valley of the Kings,” deep in a rocky tomb. The location of the Valley of the Kings was along the Nile River, in the middle of Egypt. Inside the tombs were burial chambers where the mummies of the pharaohs were placed. Each mummy was decorated inside the coffin using hieroglyphics, a system of picture-writing. The walls and even ceilings of the tombs were decorated with relief carvings and paintings that depicted the life of the pharaoh, usually showing him in battles or other situations illustrating valor or great bravery.

Some temples represent how some of the Egyptian pharaohs and queens wanted to be remembered for their escapades, experiences, and activities. Two extraordinary examples are those of Ramses II and Queen Hatshepsut.

The sculptures outside Ramses II’s temple of Abu Simbel were sixty feet high (Gardner). However, Ramses II’s temple had been built near the future site of the Aswan Dam, so in the 1960s Abu Simbel had to be moved to higher ground. The temple was literally cut apart and then pieced back together and was placed on an imitation mountain near the water. UNESCO and several countries helped provide technology, funding, and engineering for the artificial mountain. The four huge sculp- tures and interior temple were then placed on this mountain and pieced back together, made to look as they had at the time of Ramses II. Inside the temple were columns shaped in the pharaoh’s likeness, and all along the interior walls were paintings depict- ing his victories in battle. The amazing thing about Ramses II was that he, unlike many other pharaohs, had fought with his men on the front lines. He went all the way to Syria and returned home alive. He fought many battles and lived into his nineties, outliving his father, Seti I, by nearly forty years. The scenes painted on Abu Simbel’s walls were from his war escapades as well as his conflict with the Hittites. This was an important event in history, because not only was an account discovered that had been written from the Egyptian point of view, but also an account written by the Hittites about the same conflict. As one can imagine, the two accounts were quite different— each history was written from the vantage point of its writer. In this instance, Ramses II was depicted as the hero by the Egyptian artist, and it appeared from the paintings that the Egyptian army had won. However, the account as recorded by the Hittites depicted the battle as a draw; according to them, Ramses II and his army had turned around, left their land, and returned to Egypt. This was an unusual case because it enables us to see both versions. Some scholars believe that the encounter may have been a diplomatic solution, or that it may have ended a draw.

At that time in history, the pharaohs had several wives, as Ramses II did. The temple built next to Abu Simbel was erected for his favorite wife, Nefertari, and it had six sculp- tures on the exterior as well as paintings on the interior. Of the six sculptures on the exterior, two were of the queen, and the other four were of the pharaoh himself. Much later, when the Aswan Dam was built, Nefertari’s temple was moved along with Abu Simbel and placed on an artificial mountain.

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The temple of Queen Hatshepsut, circa 1450 B.C., is located near the Valley of the Kings and has sometimes been referred to as a temple carved out of living rock. This temple has several levels as well as a massive ramp at the entrance and was originally constructed as a royal mortuary temple. Because no legitimate male heir was alive to take the throne, Hatshepsut inherited the throne and is reported to have become a pharaoh. “Reliefs are carved on the interior walls which represent Hatshepsut’s birth, coronation and great deeds” (Gardner). According to tour guides, in some of the restored areas of the temple, relief carvings on the walls have the portion of her face that would make her identifiable, but it has been mutilated and chiseled out. This most likely occurred shortly after her reign at the command of her step-son, who inherited her throne after her death.

The tomb of the child pharaoh, King Tutankhamen, was found in 1922 by British archeologist Howard Carter. This tomb was significant, because the mummified body of the pharaoh was actually intact in the tomb, making this find the rarest and most valuable in the Valley of the Kings in the twentieth century. At the time of this discovery, Lord Carnarvon had been supplying financial assistance to Carter for several years. He was ready to give up on the project when Carter finally noticed part of a vase that helped him locate the tomb. It must have been quite a shock for Lord Carnarvon, arriving back in Great Britain, to receive a telegram from Howard Carter from Egypt, asking him to turn around and return to Egypt at once. Howard Carter had finally located the entrance to the tomb of King Tutankhamen, and he wanted Lord Carnarvon to be present when he opened the door of the tomb. This tomb had been sealed since ancient times, and Howard Carter and his workmen patiently waited until Lord Carnarvon and his daughter arrived back from England by ship. The treasures discovered in the tomb have been considered the most exquisite gold work from the ancient world and have never been surpassed by any treasures from any other tombs in that area. Howard Carter painstakingly numbered and catalogued each object located in that tomb and had them delivered to the Cairo Museum

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Ancient Egyptian Civilization Accomplishments

Architecture: building pyramids for their pharaohs and queens to place their body in a mummified form in order to go to their afterlife

Calendar: developed names for their seasons which helped them know when to plant their crops

Irrigation: developed a sophisticated system of irrigation to water their crops using water from the Nile River

Life after death: prepared mummies for their belief in the afterlife and if the body was a mummy (embalmed) it would be preserved

Mathematics: advanced use of geometry in their building of huge structures; they built pyramids during the Old Pyramid Age and they built temples during the New Pyramid Age

Post-and-lintel construction: used this type of architectural structure in their build- ing of complexes near pyramids and also during the New Pyramid Age

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Shipping: used their ship-building capability to travel the Nile River delivering goods and taking part in ceremonial events such as funerals; devised a major transportation and communication system in their known world

Language: use of hieroglyphics by scribes who wrote detailed accounts in the tombs of the pharaohs and the queens in the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens

Abu Simbel: a temple erected during the time of Ramses II who wanted this temple to represent his power and strength (When the Aswan Dam was built, this temple was moved piece by piece and block by block to higher ground in order to save the temple from being under water when a lake formed. The lake is Nasar Lake.)